SUNKIN - “Bellicose Grounds”

For those of you looking for some upbeat and energetic indie rock, look no further than London, England’s SUNKIN and their totally epic single, “Bellicose Grounds.”

This track wastes no time, at first teasing with some synth before erupting into a wall of sound created by drums, bass, and fuzzed guitar. We can already imagine the crowd jumping up and down for the intro to this thing before it makes room for some singing. And fans of a more classic Kings of Leon sound are really going to enjoy the manner in which the lyrics are delivered, with subtle hints of overdriven tubes the way The Strokes did it when they used to do it so well. In all of the commotion, the vocals still manage to find a falsetto amidst some breezy and vibey guitar notes before navigating to the hook, which is an absolute delight, with some sweet harmonies and a couple of syncopated stops to show off how tight this rhythm section actually is.

Our favorite part, however, comes in at about two minutes deep, with an acoustic guitar and moody vocals that have The National written all over them. The song then does a quick build and throws us right back into a double chorus to finish it off. “Bellicose Grounds” is pretty spectacular and quite a refreshing palate cleanser from our usual brand of indie. This is one of those songs that you hear and can’t wait to catch it live, so we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for a US tour.

-TM